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A woman awoken in air, a soldier forged by fire, a weapon risen from blood.

Vhalla Yarl has made it to the warfront in the North. Forged by blood and fire, she has steeled her heart for the final battle of the Solaris Empire’s conquest. The choices before Vhalla are no longer servitude or freedom, they are servitude or death. The stakes have never been higher as the Emperor maintains his iron grip on her fate, holding everything Vhalla still has left to lose in the balance.

I’m going to be honest with you. I read Earth’s End a while ago. In fact, I’ve read it 2.7 times since. (The .7 is because I’ve reread a few bits in isolation.) It’s just taken me a while to write this because I’m not sure how to write this review without sounding like a broken record. You know I absolutely adored Air Awakens and Fire Falling. You can go read the reviews to see what they did to me. Earth’s End was very much the same. Also, I made a mistake and read Water’s Wrath, the fourth book, before writing this. OOPS.

But let’s try and put feelings into words, shall we? As usual, since this is a book in a series, there will be light spoilers if you haven’t read the first two books. I tried to keep it to a minimum, but some things had to be said. If you haven’t started the series…

Fire Falling finished off on a HUUUUUGE cliffhanger, one that left me devastated, sobbing in the shower and at work. It was bad. Luckily, once I picked up Earth’s End, I didn’t have to wait too long to learn the outcome of said hanger.

But the major storyline of this particular book is that Vhalla reaches the North, which means… time for war. What I really enjoyed about Vhalla at war was that she showed a lot of empathy for the people, but at the same time, she realised that it was war. She killed people, and she didn’t run off into a corner to cry. She didn’t shy away from what she was supposed to do. It was great to see how she’d changed from the quiet library girl in the first book to this BAMF warrior! Also, as usual, I loved reading all the bits where she used her magic; I want it.

Earth’s End added a few new characters to the mix. Most notable was Jax, who I immediately fell in love with. He was just so cheeky, and he made me laugh out loud almost every time he showed up. I ship him and Elecia so hard, though I’m pretty sure I’m the only one. Of course, I also enjoyed any and all interactions with my Fritzypoo, and even Baldair found a comfier home in my heart! A character that I most certainly didn’t like and who I can say with certainty is one of my most-hated characters ever? The Emperor. THAT MOFO CAN SHOVE IT WHERE THE SUN DON’T SHINE. He’s almost as bad as Darth Kova. Almost.

Kova once again shined at world-building. You can tell she’s put a lot of thought and effort into her world, something that is so important when writing high fantasy. I got a very good sense for the North, with its distinct culture and landscapes. I also appreciated how war was depicted as something that took time and planning. What’s more, Kova showed how it affected ordinary people through Vhalla’s projection explorations within the city walls.

I like romance in my books, and Elise didn’t leave me hanging. To balance out all the scheming and warring, there was a good dose of relationship drama and a lot of very squishy moments. Squishy meaning my face did these weird squished expressions because I was feeling all squishy. I’m sure you know what I mean. And if you don’t, tough. Also, INAD! Oh, to be Inad. I should have known, though, that Kova would show her dark side, sending me soaring before completely screwing me over.

You know what I said about Fire Falling? Well, Darth Kova struck again, because, while the book didn’t exactly end on a cliffhanger, it did end in such a way that I sat shell-shocked for a looooong time. I was not happy with her, that was for sure. Kova’s development of certain characters left me feeling conflicted, not sure how I wanted things to progress. On top of that, I had no clue whatsoever what would happen next.

As usual, Darth Kova is a dark mistress of my soul. She knows and writes exactly what I need to read, even though I don’t always want to read certain things.

Like I said, I’ve already read Water’s Wrath, so expect a review of that up soon. I promise to not leave it as long this time! I’ve also got a special Water’s Wrath surprise for everyone on Saturday, so be sure to check in for that… –Laughs evilly–

Rating breakdown

Plot

Characters

World-building

Pacing

Writing

Cover

Overall:

Have you read Earth’s End? What did you think? Which were your favourite bits?

2 responses to “#BookReview: Earth’s End by Elise Kova”

So I accidentally read the heat rating as your star rating and then just sat here, open mouthed for a good five minutes. I just couldn’t understand how you could have given this two and a half stars. I think this just proves I need more sleep.

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0: Couldn't finish1: Want my precious reading hours back2: Could have done without it3: It was good, but it's not an essential read4: Really liked it and glad I picked it up5: Absolutely loved it and would read again

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